Shows
Fine Wine Confidential PodcastEPISODE #17 LEXINGTON VALLEY VINEYARD/RYAN HALE WINEMAKER,OWNERLexington Valley Vineyard is a hidden gem in the Virginia lineup of wineries. I virtually got lost the first time I went to check it out. I had to keep checking my Navigation app to be sure I was headed in the correct direction. However, once I found it, I was impressed with the wines I purchased that day back in August of 2022, especially their Marchel Foch along with their Norton.This is a small family run operation that Ryan Hale the current winemaker father Cal planted the vineyard in 1999 but passed aways in 2021. Ryan and his...2024-11-2739 minFine Wine Confidential PodcastEPISODE #16 SHEP ROUSE/ROCKBRIDGE VINEYARDI always enjoy sitting down with Shep Rouse and getting his viewpoint on winegrowing in Virginia and wine in general. He has been making wine for close to 45 years. First in California in the early '80s and then in Virginia first in 1986 at the old Montdomaine winery and then founding his own winery Rockbridge in 1992.Although Shep doesn't produce a Norton every vintage, mostly because he doesn't grow it in his vineyard the Norton wine, I have had from him in the past is a great expression of the grape and what it can be once...2024-11-0131 minFine Wine Confidential PodcastEPISODE # 32 MIKE HENY/WINEMAKER: MICHAEL SHAPS WINEWORKSMichael Heny graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and Comparative Literature from University of Virginia in 1990. Hardly, the typical training or studies that would lead to a successful career. He was in need of a job just out of college when he answered and ad for a position as a cellar worker at Montdomaine Cellars where Shep Rouse was the winemaker. He remembers Shep tasting wine one afternoon outside the cellar when Shep asked him to join him. It was the first time he even was exposed to the Tasting of wine. He became enthralled with the pr...2022-01-2537 minFine Wine Confidential PodcastEpisode #8 Shep Rouse /Rockbridge WineryShepherd (Shep) Rouse is Virginia through and through. His ancestors roots trace back to the 17th century in Virginia. Shep was a Fulbright Scholar and after spending time in Germany he fell in love with their wines and Riesling specifically. When he returned to the U.S. he decided to take up the art of winemaking and headed to the West Coast where he would as a get his degree in Enology at U.C. Davis. He worked for several of the early pioneers in Northern California and would eventually make it back to his native state, Virginia, where he t...2021-02-0242 min